Cast away those soft plastic lures

Soft plastic lures are causing harm to New England's inland fish supply, according to a study by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

Wayne Hooper

Soft plastic lures are causing harm to New England's inland fish supply, according to a study by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

Maine fisheries biologists are reporting increasing numbers of angled trout and salmon with indigestible soft plastic lures in their stomachs, according to John Boland, IF&W Fisheries Division Director. A discarded soft plastic lure consumed innocently by a brook trout from the bottom of a freshwater shoal likely remains in that fish's stomach for the rest of its life and may cause health issues such as ulcers and weight loss. The IF&W is asking anglers to switch to biodegradeable food-based lures.

A study conducted at Unity College found that 65 percent of brook trout voluntarily consumed soft plastic lures if they simply were dropped into water.

"We found that fish retained the lures in their stomachs for 13 weeks without regurgitating them," IF&W pathologist Dr. Russ Danner said. "They also began to act anorexic and lost weight within 90 days of eating a soft plastic lure."

"We strongly encourage anglers to voluntarily purchase biodegradable and food-based lures rather than soft plastic ones," Danner said. "Also, we are asking anglers not to discard plastic lures into any waters, and also to attempt to retrieve any soft plastic lures that have become unhooked".

For millennia, trout and salmon have foraged the waters of Maine for nutritious natural forage such as small fishes, insects and other invertebrates. In the last 20 years, food mimics made of soft plastic has begun to compete with these nutritious natural forage items. The effects of soft plastic lure pollution on freshwater ecosystems are not well understood yet, but it is unlikely that eating soft plastic lures will be found to be a good thing.

"The wide assortment of soft plastic fishing lures is staggering," Dr. Danner said. "Soft plastic lures come in every color, a myriad of sizes, and resembling every swimming, crawling, and flying creature a fish could imagine eating. Large fish searching the waters of Maine are bound to come upon brightly colored soft plastic lures lost or discarded by anglers and consume these imitators of natural food items."

There are estimates that as much as 20 million pounds of soft plastic are being lost in freshwater lakes and streams annually in the United States. The average life expectancy for these soft plastic lures is more than 200 years.

"We need all anglers to do their part to protect Maine's valuable fisheries from this serious threat," Danner said. "Natural lure alternatives are available at many retailers and online, and should become the choice of people who love to fish Maine's waters".

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Maine's spring Wild Turkey hunting season opens today with a youth-only day to encourage young people to learn about the sport. It opens for adults on Monday.

Hunters must have a valid spring wild turkey permit and a valid Maine resident hunting license, or a valid nonresident or alien big game hunting license in order to hunt turkey. A valid archery license also permits hunting of wild turkey with bow and arrow in Maine.

The season runs from May 4 to June 6.

Spring legal hours are 30 minutes before sunrise until noon local time. Areas open to hunting are Wildlife Management Districts 7, 10-18, and 20-26. The bag limit is one bearded wild turkey per permit holder per season. Only shotgun gauges 10 through 20 using shot sizes four through six, or bow and arrow may be used. Electronic calling devices are legal.

Adult supervision is required for all youth. The qualified adult must be a person 18 or older who has been approved by the youth's parent or guardian and must hold a valid Maine hunting license or have completed a hunter safety course. The accompanying adult cannot possess a firearm or bow and arrow during the youth hunting day.

Last weekend kicked off turkey season in New Hampshire. Spring gobbler season starts Sunday and ends May 31. Last spring, hunters had a successful season in New Hampshire, taking 4,107 turkeys statewide (up from 3,651 in 2007). Later in the year, New Hampshire offers turkey hunters a three-month long fall archery season, as well as a limited fall shotgun opportunity in certain Wildlife Management Units. New Hampshire has approximately 40,000 wild turkeys statewide.

The limit is one male or bearded turkey. Hunting hours are 30 minutes before sunrise until noon.

Bow and arrow or shotgun (10, 12, 16 or 20 gauge shotgun using 2, 4, 5 or 6 size shot) are permitted. The fully feathered, intact turkey must be registered and sealed within 24 hours of the time of taking.

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The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is asking homeowners to not feed birds until July and to take other food odor prevention steps around their properties as ways to deter bears that could become a nuisance or danger.

Bears are coming out of hibernation throughout Maine and are in search of food that is not readily available to them at this time of year. They are drawn to bird feeders, garbage cans, dumpsters and grills — where food or the odor of food is prevalent — or to areas where people believe it's OK to leave food for them.

For birds, however, spring offers an abundance of natural food and therefore they don't need to be fed by people. In addition, some birds this year have been inflicted with salmonella that has grown on rotten bird seed left in or near feeders from last year.

"The bird feeders need to be cleaned and free of seed to not only protect birds from salmonella, but to keep bears out of backyards so they don't become reliant on people for food," according to IF&W wildlife biologist Jennifer Vashon. "The best way to keep bears in the wild is to not make it easy for them to make themselves at home in your yard."

Wayne Hooper is a member of the New England Outdoors Writers Association and a lifelong Seacoast resident. He can be reached at sports@seacoastonline.com

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